Plastic nozzle metal end closure assembly method



20, 1968 R. B. GANUNG ETAL 3,397,824

PLASTIC NOZZLE METAL END CLOSURE ASSEMBLY METHOD Filed Jan. 11, 1967 j I 32 t 30 11': mmrfifi' 40 U: .m: n 44 28 I 36 I '1 l I l 1 HI 1 I l 1 36 INVENTORS.

ROBE R7 B. GAIVUNG LOU/5 H. HUBER United States Patent 3,397,824 PLASTIC NOZZLE METAL END CLOSURE ASSEMBLY METHOD Robert B. Ganung, Glen Ellyn, and Louis H. Huber, Hinsdale, 11]., assignors to National Can Corporation, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 608,598 4 Claims. (Cl. 222-570) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A closure assembly comprising a plastic screw threaded nozzle unit with a lower flange designed to spread apart a notched metal collar on a can top so that locking lugs on the nozzle unit readily pass inside the upper edges of the collar without catching them. The nozzle is rotated to orient the lugs with the notches and lock the nozzle in place. The method of spreading the collar apart, inserting the nozzle at random, and rotating it to a locked position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention The field of the present invention is that of plastic pouring spouts or nozzles containing screw caps and adapted to be fastend directly to metal can ends. This invention relates to a combination plastic nozzle and collar unit in which the nozzle with the screw threaded top portion is inserted into a can end containing an opening defined by a vertical collar, without regard to the initial rotational orientation of the nozzle and the collar. After the nozzle is inserted, it is rotated until locking lugs situated on the nozzle engage notches situated on the collar. The lower portions of the collar form a continuous sealing surface which mates with a complementary sealing surface on the intermediate part of the nozzle, thereby effecting a liquid-tight seal. The nozzle contains a flange which spreads the collar apart during inserting so that the locking lugs may bypass the upper edges of the collar. The invention also relates to the method of holding the collar apart with a nozzle flange while inserting the nozzle at random and locking the nozzle by rotating it into the desired position.

Thus, this invention is converned with an article and a method which provide a plastic nozzle for a metal can end so that automatic machinery may thereafter fill the can, hold it in position, and twist a screw type cap onto the nozzle up to a desired torque without rotating the nozzle relative to the can end.

(2) Description of the prior art At present, many diverse types of products are packed in so-called tin cans containing combination plastic nozzle and cap assemblies. These products, which include, but are not limited to, soaps and detergents, both liquid and powdered, floor waxes and other emulsion products, automotive chemicals, and the like, are commercially packed today by the millions in containers of this sort. Many packers prefer the combined advantages of a metal can with the reclosability and relatively tight seal features which are afforded by a plastic nozzle and screw threaded cap.

A desirable container of this sort, which includes a screw threaded cap, has means not only for aflixing the nozzle to the container to avoid vertical movement or loss of the nozzle, but also provides sealings surfaces which are suflicient to form a liquid-tight or other product-tight seal between the can end and the nozzle. In addition, it is important that nozzles adapted to receive scerw threaded caps include means to prevent rotation of the nozzle inside the can end, because, when a torque is applied to 3,397,824 Patented Aug. 20, 1968 the cap which is being screwed on the nozzle, it is desired that the cap twist into a locked position until a preset torque is reached. If the nozzle is free to rotate, the cap cannot satisfactorily be tightly locked on the nozzle by automatic means.

Another desirable characteristic of a nozzle is that it be susceptible of being pressed into the can end without the need for orienting it into a particular position before inserting it in the can end. Accordingly, in view of the large volume of cans of this type which are sold, there has been a need for a simple and effective nozzle for receiving a screw threaded cap, and which can be inserted by a simple and effective method.

Thus, caps of the prior art either did not contain a screw threaded feature, which rendered the caps diflicult to assemble with automatic machinery, or required glue or other adhesive means to prevent rotation of the nozzle during application of the cap, or contained notches or cutouts to prevent rotation, but these devices required that the nozzle having complementary lugs be oriented correctly before being inserted into position, which involved separate and complex machinery and operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above shortcomings of prior known devices of this class, an object of the present invention is to provide a screw threaded nozzle unit adapted to be inserted into a can end without the need for orienting the nozzle relative to the end, whcih will thereafter achieve a rotationally locked position so that a cap may be screwed thereon to form a tight seal.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention include: providing such a unit at low cost; providing a unit which will provide a simple, inexpensive and tight liquid seal, and which makes it possible to fill the container through the opening in the can top, thereafter closing the can top with the nozzle and cap affixed, or in which it is possible to aflix the nozzle, fill through the nozzle and attach the cap.

The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art and achieves its objects and advantages by providing a closure assembly in which a nozzle having screw threads on the top and a flange at the bottom is adapted to be inserted downwardly into a collar portion defining an opening in a can end, keeping the collar spread apart while locking lugs disposed on the nozzle bypass the upper edges of the collar and move into a position so that slight rotation thereof will lock the lugs into notches provided in the collar unit.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, including those inherent therein, and the manner of their attainment, will become more apparent when considered in conjunction with a description of the preferred embodiment of the invention contained in the following specification and claims, and as shown in the drawings below, in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a view, partly in elevation and partly in section of the closure assembly of the present invention in the position of use;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along lines 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the can top collar portion of the present invention without the nozzle unit;

FIG. 4 shows the nozzle unit of the present invention in an inserted but not locked position;

FIG. 5 shows the nozzle unit being inserted in the can top unit.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before referring to the drawings in greater detail, it will be understood that, although conventional, known types of caps may be attached to the nozzle feature described herein, and although the nozzle may be inserted in the can top with such cap attached, as will be described in detail hereafter, the cap does not, in and of itself, form a necessary element of the invention, and hence description thereof will be omitted.

When used herein, both in the specification and in the claims, words indicating direction, orientation, or location will be understood to mean parts or elements so located when a can unit with which the present combination is associated is located in an upright position, that is, with the can resting upright, a nozzle disposed in the top end thereof and with the pour opening through the nozzle being disposed vertically.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, there is shown generally in FIG. 1 a closure assembly 10, and this closure comprises generally a nozzle unit 12 and a can top unit 14. Although a portion of the can top unit 14 is shown as having a generally flat top, it will be understood that this top may be of a conventional domed or truncated construction, that is, one in which the can top unit 14 tapers upwardly and inwardly in its normal position of use on a can.

The nozzle unit 12 is shown to include an upper body portion 14 having cap receiving and fastening means in the form of threads 16 integrally formed thereon, and a lower body portion 18, most of which is disposed inside the can itself. The lower body portion 18 includes a bottom surface 20, an outwardly and upwardly tapering frusto-conical flange surface 22, and a substantially horizontal inwardly directed lower sealing shoulder 24. The intermediate body portion 26 of the nozzle 12 includes a continuous substantially vertically extending smooth, lug-free sealing surface 28 on the intermediate body portion 26 and further includes a locking lug 30, extending outwardly from said sealing surface 28. Disposed just above said locking lugs 30 is an outwardly extending stop flange 32, further discussed herein.

Referring now to the can top portion 14, this portion includes a center opening 34 therein, said opening being defined by a vertical collar 36 which extends upwardly and which includes an uninterrupted vertical circular sealing surface 38 and a plurality of relatively wide sealing surface extensions 40, said extensions 40 defining a series of notches 42 therebetween. The collar 36 begins with a bottom edge 43 which contacts the sealing shoulder 24 and terminates in a top edge 44.

If, by chance, the locking lugs 30 are oriented so as to engage the notches 42 when the nozzle 12 is inserted in the can top 14, the upper edges 44 of the collar 36 will not be forced outwardly once the shoulder 24 has passed the bottom edge 43 of the collar 36, and thus the nozzle will continue downwardly until the bottom edges 46 of the lugs 30 engage the bottom edges of the notches 42. In this case, the combination of the notches 42 and lugs 30 will prevent downward vertical movement as well as rotation of the nozzle 12.

It is more likely, however, that the lugs 30 and notches 42 will not be aligned, and in this case, since the total height of the collar 36 is greater than the lug-free outer sealing surface 28 of the nozzle 12, the upper edges 44 of the collar 36 will be bowed or deflected outwardly, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, until the shoulder 24 has bypassed the lower edge 42 of the collar 36. Thereupon (FIG. 4), that portion of the collar 36 which is not adjacent a lug 30 will again tend to attain a generally vertical position, whereas in the area of a locking lug 30, the collar 36 will remain in a somewhat outwardly directed position. Thereupon, when the nozzle 14 is rotated to the necessary degree, the locking lugs 30 will engage the notches 42, and the collar 36 will snap back to its original position.

As pointed out above, this rotation may take place immediately upon inserting the nozzles, or thereafter, as by later engaging the nozzle with a complementary thread rotating member (not shown) having a pre-set torque, or by fitting the nozzle in place with the cap attached and rotating the entire assembly until the lugs snap into place.

In the event that additional means are required to make sure that the nozzle 12 does not penetrate too far downwardly upon initial insertion thereof into the opening 34, a stop flange 32 disposed just above the lugs 30 is constructed having a width sufficient to engage the upper edge 44 of the collar 36.

Although the exact dimensions of units made according to the present invention are not critical, it is necessary that the height of the collar 36 be greater than the distance between the shoulder 24 and the bottom edges 46 of the lugs 30, since, in this way, the frusto-conical flange surface 22 tends to hold the upper edge 44 of the collar 36 in an outwardly extended position during the passage of the nozzle 12 through the opening 34.

In the use of the present invention, a liquid-tight seal is formed by reason of the cooperation of the respective sets of sealing surfaces 24, 43 and 28, 38 with each other. Although, for use with liquids, the invention contemplates that the vertical sealing surface 28 formed by the lower portions of the collar 36 be uninterrupted, it is understood that it is possible that a joint be formed in this surface 38, provided that the combination of the resiliency of the nozzle and the metal from which the collar 36 is made are such that a liquid-tight joint will result, and, in the event that the container is for solid but fluent materials, that the joint is tight enough to prevent leakage of these materials therefrom.

Normally, the can top unit 14 including the collar 36 will be of a one piece construction, but it will be understood that the can top 14 may not be an entire can top but may be a disc which is suitable for fastening into a larger opening or which can be attached to a structure which would then be seamed or otherwise attached to the remainder of a can or container top. This is the case where it is desirable to make the larger portion of a container end of a thicker gauge material and make the nozzle supporting can top portion 14 of a thinner or more pliable material.

In the preferred construction, the nozzle is made of a moldable thermoplastic material, such as high density polyethylene, polypropylene, or combinations of vinyl and/ or acrylic plastic materials, The only necessary characteristics of the nozzle unit 12 are that it be flexible enough to deflect somewhat when the flange 24 is being inserted through the opening 34 and that it is resilient enough to form a liquid-tight seal with the metal while being stiff enough to bend the collar outwardly, and be stiff enough so that the threads 16 formed thereon will not be deformed when a cap is placed thereon and sealed by the force of an ordinary hand twist. Material suitable for making caps such as these is well known in the art.

It can thus be seen, from the above description, from the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the drawings, that the present invention provides a new and useful plastic nozzle metal end closure assembly method having a number of novel advantages and characteristics including those hereinbefore pointed out and others which are inherent therein. We contemplate that certain changes and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A closure assembly for a can or like container comprising, in combination,

(a) a nozzle unit having a pore opening extending axially therethrough, said nozzle unit including,

(1) an upper body portion with cap receiving and fastening means thereon,

(2) a lower body portion including a bottom surface having a circular periphery and a frustoconical flange surface tapering upwardly outwardly from said circular periphery and terminating in an inwardly directed, lower sealing shoulder; and

(3) an intermediate body portion of generally circular configuration having a lower, uninterrupted sealing surface upwardly extending a given distance above said sealing shoulder, an upper portion having a plurality of outwardly extending locking lugs integrally formed thereon, and stop means proximate the upper extent of said lugs and extending outwardly therefrom; and

(b) a can top portion having a wall portion and an upwardly extending collar, said collar defining an opening in said wall portion for receipt of said nozzle unit, said collar having an uninterrupted inner circular sealing lower surface of a height substantially equal to said given distance, said collar further having an extension above said lower surface, said extension terminating in an upper edge portion and having inwardly extending notches therein; and

(c) each of said lugs adapted to register with and engage one of said notches when said nozzle is inserted downwardly in said opening, the upper edge portions of said collar are deflected outwardly by said frustoconical flange in an amount suflicient to allow free passage of said lugs past the upper edge portion of said collar extension, which upper edge portion is in turn engaged by said stop means to vertically position the nozzle relative to the collar,

said lugs holding said collar extension outwardly until said lower sealing shoulder engages underportions of said can top wall portion and until said lugs and said notches are aligned by rotation of said nozzle whereupon said notches and said lugs co operate to prevent rotation of said nozzle when it is locked in place, and said horizontal lower sealing shoulder prevents removal of said nozzle, and said circular sealing surfaces cooperate with each other to form a product-tight seal.

2. A closure assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said stop means comprises an outwardly extending stop flange surrounding said body and disposed adjacent the upper extent of said lugs, said stop flange being constructed so as to engage said upper edge portions of said collar extensions in order to limit the downward movement of said nozzle in said opening.

3. A closure assembly as defined in claim 1 in which said nozzle unit comprises a still? but resilient thermoplastic material.

4. A closure assembly as defined in claim 1 in which said cap receiving and fastening means comprises screw threads integrally formed on said nozzle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,203,880 6/1940 Schindelbeck 222-562 X 2,310,777 2/1943 Giavotto 222-563 X 3,029,988 4/1962 Schmidt 222569 3,204,829 9/1965 Song 222l53 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

N. L. STACK, Assistant Examiner. 

